Automatic work clamp and length gauge



April 2, 1935.

B. G. HARDY AUTOMATIC WORK CLAMP AND LENGTH GAUGE Filed Dec. 2, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fic/yzrmin Harg/y I N VEN TOR.

April 2, 1935, B G HARDY 1,996,373

I AUTOMATIC WORK CLAMP AND LENGTH GAUGE Filed Dec. 2, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Berg him 6. Hamy Patented Apr. 2, 1935 A I A 1,996,373

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE-T Benjamin G. Hardy, MerchantvillaN. J., assignor to Albert P. De Sanno, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa.,

Application December 2, 1931, Serial No. 578,500 4 mime. (01.29-69) My invention relates to a machineemployed for Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the mechcutting metal, marble or any similar hard subanism for placing the machine in a neutral posistance and relates particularly to the manner tion. of holding the material or stock to be cut. Fig.6 is a plan View of the vise and gauge; and

5 Heretofore, the locking of the stock, so that Fig. 7 is'an enlarged view of the rodarm and 5 it may be cut, has been done manually by the its'mounting on the movable cutter section of operator; hence, considerable time has been rethe machine. j quired tolock the stock inplace, to measure the Referring more specifically to the drawings, I length of the piece to be cut, and to dispose of show a machine wherein steel, steel alloys, other 10 the material after it has been severed from its metals and non-metallic materials may be quickv10 parent piece. 7 7 ly, coolly and accurately cut. The machine is com- It is an object of my invention to automatically posed of a base A; a rotating cutter and movable lock the stock in the vise by the same manual support B, an automatic clamping viseC mounted operation used to perform the cutting, and so upon the base A; and an adjustable measuring 5 reduce the cutting time by permitting rapid setdevice and holder D. r ups. The base A carries the automatic clamping Another object of my invention is to construct vise C and has pivoted to its lower extremity a adevice which automatically permitsthe machine 7 movable support B which carries the rotating v to be cleared of the severed piece and which also cutter l0. p

permits the ready adjustment of the length of The automatically closing vise C has a fixed 20 the material or stock for the new cut. lower jaw l2 and a movable jaw 14, which slides Another object of my invention isto provide on a plurality of guides Hi and I8. A groove 20 a mechanism whereby the release of the cutter in the jaws exposesthe stock or material so the opens the jaws of the vise, permitting the short cutter Hi can cut the original piece while the V stock previously severed to drop when the rework is held'rigidly. However, the parent piece 25 maining stock to be cut is placed in position. and thesevered piece of material are stillgripped Another object" of my invention is to provide after the cut is complete. 7 a mechanismfo-r placing the movable portion of To the forward side of the movable jaw 14 is the machine in a neutral or balanced position. an extension 22 having an :opening wherein a With the above objects in view my invention r01 24 is fastened by a leveroperated locking or 30 consists of a cut-off machine having a rotating set screw 26. However, the rod 24 may be shiftcutter, a vise to retain the material that is to be ed in theopening of the'extension for purposes cut and which is automatically locked by the same of adjustment. A crankarm or pitman 28, pivmovement which periorms the cutting, a gauge otally connected at its ends to the rod 24 and a which regulates the length to be cut, and means crank' 29, -moves the rod and the extension 22 35 to releasethe severed piece. whenever a crank shaft 30, which carries the Otherobjects' of my invention are to provide crank 29, is oscillated. The crank-shaft 30, suitan improved device of the character described, ably mounted in a bearing is attached atone a is easily a co i a y p du d; sturdy end to a'lever 32 which moves upward when a 40 np st u i n and avin a ax mu fii i y riding wheel or studcam 34 contacts with the and free end of the lever 32. A strong tension spring W1th the above and related objects in View, my (not shown)v is placed underthe riding wheel or invention consists in details of constmfion cam 34 to relieve'the strain thrown on the lever and combina'tmn P will m fully 32. The stud cam 34 is attached to the front unders'mMmm the followltlg descnptmn when of the support B to one side of the cutter It readm comuncuon mm the accompanying i and directly in front of an opening 36 in the ings in which; V

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cut-off machine Support Forward movement of the Support embodying my i ti B causes the studcam 34 to raise the lever 32 Fig.2 is a'perspective View of the vise in which and thus clam}? the jaws and about the 50 he piece to be cut is h ld, stock or material M as more fully hereinafter Fig. 3 is the bottom perspective view of the describedj gauge. 7 Upon moving the cutter away from the work Fig. l is a fragmentary sectional view f the the dropping of the lever 32 rotates the crank pointer. I I a backwards, thereby releasing the work and per- 55 mitting the work to be moved forward into position for another cutting operation.

To provide a measuring device, when material is to be cut rapidly, I provide a scale arm 38 and a measuring clamp or device, generally designated as D, see Figs. 1, 3 and 6. The measuring device D is adapted to be adjustable both longitudinally and transversely relative to the scale arm. These adjustments are optionally accomplished by releasing and locking the bolts 42 and 40 on the longitudinal and transversely movable elements 44 and 46, respectively. An arm 48 is pivotally mounted at 49 on the transversely adjustable element 46.

A rod 50 with an eye formed at one end is attached to the arm 48 between the pivot- 49' and the free end, by means of an eye bolt in the side of the arm.

A stud 56 of a general U-shape formation is attached to a guard 52 for the cutter. The rod 58 is adaptedto slide within the trough of the U-shaped stud 56. However,- an adjustable stop clamp 54 ispositioned upon the rod to the rear side of the stud. The stop clamp is adjusted upon the rod in order that the pivoted arm 48 will. be raised out of the path of a longitudinal movement, in a right hand direction, of the material within the vise. However, such action, that is: the raising of the arm. :38, will occur because of the arrangement of parts when the movable support B is normally reclining at the limit of its rearward stroke, asis well-shown in Figure 1. Therefore, if the material severed is sufliciently long its release from the right hand vise jaws, as viewed in Figure 6, will enable it todrop since the arm 48 will no longer support the free end of the severed material. If the material severed is short and will not drop because of the support afforded it by the lower right jaw ofthe vise such short piece of material may easily be pushed out of the vice.

,When the handle Ti is moved forward a short distance the arm 48 is allowed to move into position against the transverse element 48, and movement of the material to be out within the vise jaws and against the tip of the pivoted arm determines the length of the material which will be cut. It is to be observed that the forward movement of the support B enables the U -shaped stud 56 to slide idly along the rod 55, thus, coaction between the stud and the stop clamp will occur only upon. the rearward stroke of the support B.

The length of material to be cut (when insorted in the vise and against the tip of the arm 48) is predetermined by moving the measuring device D on the scale arm 38 until the pointer 58 on the measuring device is positioned adjacent the length designation desired. When the material is inserted in the vise and against the tip of the arm 48 and then severed it will be of the predetermined length as indicated on the scale. To provide for variations in thickness of cut-01f discs I provide for the variation of the zero position of the pointer 58. One'ofiset-end of the pointer 58 is movable within a bore 62, see Figs. 4 and. 6, on the longitudinal movable element 44. A spring-pressed ball engages one end of the pointer 58 which is within a complementary bore. The bore 62 and the complementary bore are interconnected at a suitable angle. Thus, the spring-pressed ball provides the retaining force or pressure for keeping the pointer in position, nevertheless as the pressure exerted on the pointer is not unduly high the pointer may still be moved by the person operating the machine. In other words, the tension exerted by the spring 64 on the ball which engages the pointer is only sufficient to prevent the pointer from being jarred loose by the vibration of the machine when in operation.

The movable support B which carries a motor is pivotally mounted, as at 66, near its lower end to the base A. The motor is positioned to one side of the dead center of the support and so tends to swing the support B backwards or counterclockwise because of its weight.

The support B, however, is limited in its movem nt, because of a spring 74 and a nut 18 on an eyebolt .58 whose eye is suitably secured to the base A. The eyebolt 68 passes through an opening in the support B, and has the manually adjustable nut i8 on the threaded end thereof. The nut 16 is adjusted in a neutral position so that but a minimum quantity of energy need be utilized toshift the cutter by the handle '52. The

spring id-is placed about the eyebolt 88 between the support B and the nut '58 to minimize shock. By turning the screw 78 a long or short stroke of the cutter IS, on the support B may be made, whereby the time of shifting the cutter may be controlled.

The closer the wheel I8 is to the material then the less tension or strain of the vise jaws on the material held therein. By so regulating the grip of the vise jaws the crushing of tubing or soft splidsis prevented.

To prevent the lever 32 from dropping too low, so that it would not be engaged by the riding wheel or stud cam 34 when the support B is moved forward, I provide a rest or stop 76 suitably located and in this particular embodiment of my invention the stop 16 is placed adjacent to the lever arm 32, to limit the downward movement of the lever.

A guide or metal chute 78 to engage a projection (not shown) on the fixed base A is placed beneath and adjacent to one end of the vise, and directs the material cut to a suitable receptacle.

A summary of the operation of my invention is as follows:

The length of stock to be out being predetermined, the adjustable measuring device and holder D is moved upon the scale arm 38 until the pointer 58 indicates the desired length on the scale arm.

The handle 12 is pulled slightly forward and the stock is moved forward by the operator so that the material touches the arm 48. Further movement of the arm #2 clamps the work in the vise through the elevating of the lever 32, which turns the crankshaft 39, thereby oscillating the crank 29, the pitman 28, and the rod 24, closing the jaw 14. The material is locked while the cutter 8 revolves and cuts through the material.

When the cutting is completed, the releasing of the armiz, by the operator, permits the cutter iii on the support B to move backward, thereby releasing the movable vise jaw and pushing the stop clamp 54 backwardly to elevate the arms 48 permitting the piece cut to drop on the chute 18 and into a basket or receptacle.

It is to be noted that the arm 48 may be positioned to engage the center of various sized materials by the adjustment of the movable elements and 46 as well as a set screw 19. The set screw is situated on the transverse shiftable element 46 and engaged by the arm 48, so that when the screw is extended the arm is likewise extended.

When a new cutter I!) of different thickness is used it is necessary to recalibrate the scale. This is readily done by moving the element 44 toward the cutter until the arm 48 just contacts with the cut-off disc. The adjustable pointer 58 is then moved until it coincides with the scale-zero.

A helicaltension spring 80 has one end attached to the fixed base A and its other end is attached to the arm 32. The spring 80 is attached to the arm 32 intermediate the points where the crank-shaft 3!] joins the arm 32 and the cam stud 34 engages one end of the arm 32; the force of the spring 80 reacts to pull the arm 32 downwardly. Hence, the jaws of the Vise normally are kept open.

The lever 32 may be shifted forward or backward by virtue of a slot therein, on the crankshaft 36 when the retaining nut is loosened in order to accommodate a long or short stroke of the cutter.

Although the invention 'has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

I claim: v

l.'In combination with a vise, a gauge for measuring the length of material to be out com prising a scale, a longitudinally shiftable member mounted on said scale, a transversely shiftable member mounted on said first named member, an adjustable pointer on said first named member cooperable with said scale to designate the position where said first named shiftable member should be placed relative to said scale.

2. In a cut-off machine having in combination a movable support carrying a rotatable cutter, a vise including a fixed jaw and amovable 00- operating jaw, said vise suitably mounted adjacent said movable support, a shaft rotatably mounted adjacent said vise, a cam stud mounted on the movable support; an arm connected to said shaft and adapted to be moved by engagement with saidcam stud, a crank arm also connected to said shaft and to one end of a pitman, and a rod connected to the other end of the pitman and associated with the movable jaw of the vise whereby upon movement of the arm which coopdesignate the position where said first named shiftable member should be placed relative to said scale.

4. A gauge for measuring a length of material to be cut comprising a scale, a longitudinally shiftable member mounted on said scale, a transversely shiftable member mounted on said first named member, a pivotally mounted arm carried by said transversely shiftable member, and said pivotally mounted arm adapted to abut the material to be cut, a pointer adapted to register with said scale mounted on said longitudinally shiftable member, and means to permitadjustment of said pointer relative to said longitudinal shiftable member, said transversely shiftable member being positioned on said longitudinal member in order to centrally locate said pivotally mounted arm with respect to the-material to be out.

BENJAMIN G. HARDY. 

